WELCOME TO THE SOCIETY OF INDEPENDENT BREWERS

ASSURED INDEPENDENT BRITISH CRAFT BREWERS

An ‘Assured Independent British Craft Brewer’ is a brewery which has agreed to abide by SIBA’s Food Safety & Quality standard – meaning you get a beer of the highest quality, crafted with the utmost care.

About SIBA

SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, was established in 1980 to represent the interests of the growing number of independent breweries in Britain.

SIBA currently represents around 830 independent craft breweries and our vision is ‘to deliver the future of British beer’ as the ‘voice of British independent Brewing’.
As well representing our independent craft brewing members in the press and lobbying government on behalf of brewers, SIBA also run regional and national independent beer awards for cask, keg, bottled and canned beers, host regional meetings for the benefit of members as well as the UK’s biggest beer & brewing trade event BeerX UK in Liverpool.

Small Breweries’ Relief

SIBA successfully campaigned for Progressive Beer Duty (PBD), also known as Small Breweries’ Relief (SBR), a system which allows small breweries to pay less tax on their products and which came into effect in 2002 following over a decade of political lobbying from SIBA. The system has been hugely successful and led to significantl growth the number of independent craft breweries in the UK.

In June 2018 SIBA published new proposals for how Small Breweries’ Relief (SBR) can be enhanced to encourage job creation, investment and growth in British independent brewing whilst protecting our flourishing small craft brewers.

Alongside these recommendations SIBA published its model for reform, outlining how changes can be made to the relief curve and what this means in cash terms on every barrel of beer brewers make. SIBA also published a report from the respected Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), which examines how SBR is working and how it can be reformed.
SIBA’s membership survey recently highlighted how important PBD is to their business with 70% stressing that PBD in at least its current format is ’vital’ to their business, with an additional 24% highlighting this as ‘very important’ or ‘important’.

Brewers in the Community

SIBA’s ‘Brewers in the Community’ initiative was launched in 2016 and aims to raise the profile of independent breweries and the contribution they make to local communities around the UK. Click here to view the Brewers in the Community 2018 Report.Brentwood Brewery in Essex were awarded the inaugural ‘Brewer in the Community Award’ in 2018 for outstanding contribution to their local community. Read about their contribution to Brentwood, and other case studies in the report above.

Assured Independent British Craft Brewers

The ‘Assured Independent British Craft Brewer‘ initiative is run by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), who ensure that any beers which carry the Independent Craft Brewer logo are relatively small, independent and brewing quality beer.

The logo is used on pumpclips, beer bottles, can labels, and at many beer festivals across the UK, and wherever it appears the beer will have been made by a truly independent craft brewery.
More information on the initiative can be found via www.indiecraftbrewers.co.uk – or if you’re a British brewery and want more information about using the seal please click here.

SIBA’s Membership Criteria Review

In July 2018 SIBA completed a two year review of its Membership Criteria to ensure that the Society is representative of the diversity of British independent brewers which share common values and principles.

The SIBA Board listened to members and consulted widely in establishing the revised membership criteria, which extended SIBA Membership to include British independent breweries which account for up to 1% of the UK beer market (approx 430,000HL as of July 2018), whilst at the same time removing ‘Associate Membership’ for Global breweries, or breweries over the aforementioned limit.

SIBA launched a three year Strategic Plan in March 2015. To help achieve the vision ‘to deliver the future of British beer and become the voice of British brewing’, SIBA highlighted four strategic aims:

Promote and campaign for our members

Provide and enhance commercial opportunities

Grow and develop our membership

Develop our capability

It is paramount for SIBA to increase its number of brewing members. This improved representation of the independent beer market will help the association have more influence when lobbying politicians.

SIBA BeerFlex scheme creates and manages flexible solutions for the on and off-trade that achieve access to market for the SIBA membership. This includes working on solutions for pub cos, online retailers and the export market.

For more information on SIBA’s three year plans, please visit the SIBA strategicplan.